The Labour donor Dale Vince has claimed victory in a libel case against the political blogger Paul Staines, who has agreed to pay damages and costs over false claims that Vince supported Hamas.
However, Vince vowed to go “all the way” to a full libel trial against Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, over his claims on X that the businessman was “pro the murderous antisemitic Hamas”.
The case hinges on a Guido Fawkes post from March headlined “Multi-million pound donor to Labour party says Hamas are ‘freedom fighters’”. It consists of an edited clip from a Times Radio interview where Vince is asked: “Is a terrorist attack from Hamas Palestine defending itself?”
“I think one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, right? That’s how it works,” replied Vince, who claims the clip was used to imply that he supported the terrorist acts of Hamas.
He has already forced the Daily Mail and GB News to apologise and pay damages to him over stories about the comments. He has been suing Staines, the editor-in-chief of the Guido Fawkes website, and Tice, who tweeted in reference to the clip.
After a high court judge’s ruling on early issues in the case, Vince said: “The court ruling today makes clear that I was seriously defamed by Paul Staines and that left him with no real prospect at a full hearing. He has therefore conceded.”
Staines has agreed to pay damages of £9,995 and is also liable for Vince’s legal costs, which are expected to be in the region of £100,000.
Vince added: “Whether Richard Tice wants to go all the way, I don’t know. I want him to accept that what he said was wrong, that it was defamatory as the judge has ruled today, and I would be happy with an apology, a correction and to move on. If he loses it will mean significant damages and costs.”
Tice said: “The judge agreed at the hearing with me that my tweet was an opinion … which is a key defence to libel, that of honest opinion. Thus I won the hearing in respect of me, and it is almost impossible for Mr Vince to succeed in his claim. I expect to be awarded costs in my favour.”
